The Right Bride

Chapter Twenty-One


MARTI BARELY GOT her eyes open before the pounding in her head beat twice as fast as her heart. The light struck her in the eyes and straight through to her brain like lightning.

Jack sat in the chair, reading a magazine next to the bed.

“Hi, Jack.” Her voice came out weak and soft.

“Hey, welcome back to the living.”

She held up her hand over her eyes to block out the light. Jack closed the drapes and shut off the overhead light above her head. She cautiously opened her eyes again and winced with pain.

“Do you want me to get the doctor?”

“Is someone sick?”

“You are, sweetheart. You had one hell of a concussion. You scared the hell out of everyone.” He picked up the phone by the bed and made a call. “She’s awake.” He hung up without saying anything else.

She didn’t care who he called, she just wanted the splitting headache to go away.

“So how’d you know I was Jack and not Sam?”

“No gun. Then again, I’m not positive. Maybe you are Sam. Take off your shirt, and I’ll reconsider.” She gave him a half smile and rubbed at her forehead.

Jack cracked up laughing.

“I’m Jack. You’ve got your sense of humor to go with a nasty bump on the back of your head.”

“At least I got something. Cameron brought me twins, and I couldn’t even keep them.” She smiled, but it died on her lips when everything that happened came back into focus in her mind. “How’s Emma?”

“She’s hanging in there. She thought she killed you and it was her fault.”

“It was that bitch’s fault. She’s going to wish she killed me.” Marti winced. The sound of her own voice hurt.

“I think Cameron wishes he could kill her. She’s still claiming she’s pregnant. And I mean adamantly. She’s been trying to play caring stepmother to Emma, but Emma isn’t having any of it.”

“I hope Cameron didn’t leave her alone with Emma again.”

“Nope. Cameron tries to avoid her at all costs. She placed an announcement in the newspaper about their engagement. He’s getting nonstop congratulations calls. He stopped answering his phone because he can’t stand to be congratulated once more on a marriage he doesn’t want. Shelly is doing everything she can to make it happen.”

“Wait. How long have I been here?”

“Going on four days. Cameron has been going nuts. He spends every night here with you, and one of us takes a shift during the day. He makes sure someone is here with you all the time.”

“You drew the short straw today?”

“Not really. We all volunteered. Even Jenna sat with you. She can’t wait to actually talk to you when you can answer her.”

“I’d like to meet her too. Did someone call George? I’ve been staying with him.”

“Cameron talked to him. George contacted your uncle. Your uncle contacted the hospital and gave them your information and you’ve been treated like royalty ever since.”

Marti was surprised her uncle had helped. The last time she’d seen him, he’d been furious with her. They weren’t close, but it was nice to know he’d come through for her.

“I don’t feel like royalty. I feel like someone dropped an anvil on my brain.”

“It’ll pass soon. So tell me, Marti, who are you? Everyone around here jumps every time your heart monitor increases a beat.”

She loved the intrigued look on Jack’s face. She didn’t answer his question, but gave him a reasonable explanation. “My uncle has a way of getting what he wants, when he wants it. He must have put on quite a show for whomever he talked to. He has a certain way about him. I’m sure you know people like that.”

The door flew open and Cameron rushed in with Emma in his arms.

“See, sweetheart, she’s just fine.” Cameron set Emma on the bed next to Marti and leaned over and kissed her forehead. Relief like he’d never felt washed over him. “I’m so happy to see you.”

Marti wanted to cry. She loved this man and he was going to marry someone else. She wanted to grab him and hold onto him and beg him not to marry Shelly.

She couldn’t bring herself to do it, so she grabbed Emma and pulled her down to her and held her close. She kissed the little girl on the cheek and wiped away her tears.

“It’s all right, Sugar Bug. I’m just fine. I was just sleepy after that long swim in the ocean.”

“The doctor said you knocked your noggin and it made you sleep like Sleeping Beauty.”

“Well, the doctor would know.” Marti appreciated the doctor’s attempt to make things easier for Emma.

“I made Daddy kiss you, but you didn’t wake up like Sleeping Beauty. He said he wasn’t your Prince Charming.” Emma frowned.

He’s Shelly’s. Marti wanted to cry.

Cameron rubbed the back of his neck. She wouldn’t even look at him, and he knew what she was thinking. He wasn’t her Prince Charming because he was a stupid idiot, and he was marrying Shelly.

He had kissed her. It had been the sweetest torture to kiss her, even if she was unconscious. He’d touched her every chance he got and watched her for long hours while she slept.

He dreamed about sleeping with her and waking up every morning to her face. He wanted to be able to touch her and kiss her whenever he wanted.

“Sugar Bug, I want to talk to you about something.”

“Am I in trouble because you got hurt?”

“No. No, Sugar Bug. You are not in trouble. You didn’t do anything wrong. Do you understand me? This is not your fault. I just banged my head on the boat. It was an accident. Okay?”

“Okay. Daddy said it wasn’t my fault, but I thought it was because you had to jump off the boat and get me. I lost the fishing pole, too.”

“I don’t care about the fishing pole.”

“Shelly said it was really expensive and I would have to buy you a new one.”

Marti glared at Cameron. He winced and rubbed the back of his neck.

“I don’t care about the fishing pole getting lost. I care about you. I love you, sweetheart, and I would jump off my boat a million times to make sure you were safe.”

“You would? Even with the sharks?”

Marti glared at Cameron again. “Let me guess, Shelly. She took a bad situation and used it to scare a little girl.”

“She said you were an idiot for jumping in the water with the sharks.” Emma’s lips trembled and tears filled her eyes.

“Did she now? Well you know what? I don’t want to talk about Shelly anymore.”

She didn’t want to think about Cameron kissing and touching that woman, and she didn’t want to think about him marrying her. She didn’t want to think about any of those things, and yet they were circling her cloudy, heart-banging mind. Tears threatened and she needed to move onto something else, or cry right there in front of everyone.

“Tell me what you’ve been doing for the last couple of days, Sugar Bug.”

“Daddy let me have dessert before dinner when I came home from the hospital. I was real sad we had to leave you here, and you didn’t have anyone to be with you. You don’t have a mom or dad, and your grandparents are gone too. No one came to see you but us. Captain Finn gave Daddy your cell phone, but no one called you.”

Leave it to a five-year-old to spell it out as plain as day. She didn’t have anyone in her life, no family, no friends, no one to come and see her in the hospital. No one had called her cell phone because everything had been solved with the lawyers and her uncle knew she was in the hospital. He’d done what he could, and that was fine. Her editor gave her a week to submit her work. She wasn’t expecting any calls and she hadn’t gotten any. Who would call? The closest people she had in her life were Cameron, Emma, and his friends.

Unable to stop the tide, the tears fell. Jack and Cameron saw her crying, but she didn’t care. Her head hurt. Most of all, her heart hurt. The special people she wanted in her life were Cameron and Emma and she couldn’t have them.

Cameron was stunned by Emma’s insight. He hadn’t realized just how alone Marti was. He carried her phone with him for three days, hoping someone would call and he could tell them about her, or perhaps get some information about her.

She could have died, and the only person they notified was an uncle, who couldn’t be bothered to come and see his niece.

He remembered again what she’d said to him in the shower.

She has everything I want. You’ll all be a family, and I’ll be alone again. I won’t have Emma, and I won’t have you.

The people she wanted in her life, who cared about whether or not she lived or died, would never be hers. When he married Shelly, he wouldn’t be able to see Marti. Once George passed away, Marti wouldn’t live at his home and Cameron would lose touch with her. She’d live her own life, find someone to love, get married, have a family, and be happy with someone else, someone who wasn’t him and Emma.

He rubbed the back of his neck and hung his head.

Jack decided to save Marti, since Cameron seemed lost in thought. “Emma, how about you and I give your dad a minute with Marti? She’s got a killer headache and should probably get some sleep. I’ll buy you a candy bar at the vending machine.”

“Any kind I want?” Emma asked and stood on the bed to jump into her Uncle Jack’s arms.

“Absolutely.”

Cameron nodded his thanks to Jack and waited for them to leave the room before he approached Marti.